


Welcome to the Family

by evewithanapple



Category: The Exorcist (TV)
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 14:07:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17102027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evewithanapple/pseuds/evewithanapple
Summary: Dating in college is hard. It's harder when you have four siblings who are really into your business.





	Welcome to the Family

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Aria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aria/gifts).



“Do you have a _girlfriend_?” Harper asks. Her face is so close to the camera lens, Verity could swear she sees breath fogging up the computer screen. She’s told Harper a dozen times that she does not actually need to be able to see up her nose while they’re Skyping, but the lesson has yet to sink in.

Or Harper’s just doing it on purpose. That’s also a distinct possibility. Over the past year and a half, Harper has relaxed – with Caleb and Truck’s enthusiastic encouragement – into the role of pesky younger sibling with aplomb. Verity doesn’t have the heart to be really annoyed by it.

“Oh my god, don’t squeal like that,” Verity says, “you’re going to break my eardrums. Yes, I have a girlfriend.”

Harper really _does_ squeal this time, loud enough that Verity’s computer speakers give an alarming groan. “Caleb! Truck! Verity’s got a girlfriend!”

The sound of thundering feet fills the background, and two new figures loom on the screen behind Harper. Verity groans. Shelby – her only ally in conversations like these – is not on this call, since his seminary class has gone on a weekend retreat to someplace called Immaculate Heart, and Rose is . . . she’s not sure where Rose is, actually. Point is, she’s on her own.

“A girlfriend?” Caleb says, leaning over Harper’s shoulder. “You? Really?”

“Ha, ha,” Verity says. “Yes, really. And no, I’m not bringing her home to meet you any time soon. I want this to _last_.”

“Why does that mean she can’t meet us?” Truck asks from behind Caleb. “I’d be nice to her.”

“So would I,” adds Harper. Caleb says nothing, probably because he knows a denial would be a flagrant enough lie that God would strike him dead where he stood. Maybe. The sum total of their experiences in that category haven’t convinced Verity that God is an especially hands-on kind of guy, but she can always hope.

“I know you would,” she says. “Look, we’ve only been dating for, like, a month, okay? We’re not at the ‘meet the parents’ stage yet.” Fortunately for her, it hasn’t even come up yet on her girlfriends’ end, because her parents live in Canada and aren’t big on travel. She’s vaguely mentioned going home for Canadian Thanksgiving a few times, but hasn’t dropped any hints about Verity tagging along. She’s taking it slow too.

“What’s her name?” Harper asks.

Caleb chimes in. “Is she hot?”

“What’s she studying?”

“Does she like Warcraft?”

“Has she got any brothers or sisters?”

“Did you ask her out first?”

“Does she know about Andy and Nikki?” That last one, from Harper, is the cue for them all to fall silent. Harper pales under her freckles, as though she’s afraid she crossed a line. Truck’s mouth flattens into a line. Caleb swallows.

Verity tries to smile reassuringly. “She knows I live with a foster mom. And she knows about you guys, although,” she adds, “that might have been a mistake.” That gets a giggle from all three of them, and the tension eases off. “As for the rest of your questions – her name is Kat, yes she’s hot, she’s studying occupational therapy, I have no idea if she likes Warcraft, she has one sister, and I asked her out first. All right?”

“How old is her sister?” That from Caleb.

“Too old and too cool for you,” Verity retorts. She actually doesn’t know a whole lot about Kat’s sister – it’s a subject she steps carefully around in a way that Verity recognizes. They’ll get there eventually.

She hears a door open and close in the background, followed by Rose’s voice. “Hey guys? Can you help me with the groceries?”

Truck lopes dutifully away. Caleb does not. “I can’t put away the groceries,” he calls back, in his best quavery, Little Orphan Annie voice. “I’m blind, remember?”

“Get your butt down here and put the milk away,” is Rose’s reply. Verity's fairly certain she loves her. Caleb tromps off after Truck, leaving Harper alone at the computer. “I should probably help too,” she says.

Verity nods. “Probably.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow, then.” She pauses, a wistful look crossing her face. “I _would_ like to meet your girlfriend, though.”

“I know you do,” Verity says, and adds “maybe at Christmas.” Her “maybe” teeters towards the “more likely than not” end of the spectrum; their relationship won’t even have passed the six-month mark by then, and besides, Kat will definitely be going home for the season. Still, there’s always Skype.

“Cool,” Harper says, brightening. “Okay, bye.”

“Bye.” Verity waits until Harper disconnects the call, then leans back in her chair, rubbing her eyes. She’s been staring at a computer screen for too long, first working on building plans for her Construction Methods class, then on the call with Harper. She needs a break.

She glances at her phone, where it sits on her bedside table. It’s just about four o’clock now, and Kat _did_ say that her seminar was getting out at three-thirty . . .

She picks it up and taps out a message. HEY BABE, U UP FOR BUBBLE TEA?

It only takes a few seconds for the reply to arrive. LUV TO. MEET U THERE?

Verity sends a thumbs-up emoji, then tucks her phone in her pocket, grinning as she heads for the door. When they meet up, she can ask Kat how her seminar went, Kat will probably ask about her Trig project, and they can work out their weekend plans. Maybe – if things go really well – they can plan ahead for Christmas as well.


End file.
